River Love

IMG_4899The song of the river ends not at her banks, but in the hearts of those who have loved her. – Buffalo Joe

There is no rushing a river. When you go there, you go at the pace of the water and that pace ties you into a flow that is older than life on this planet. Acceptance of that pace, even for a day, changes us, reminds us of other rhythms beyond the sound of our own heartbeats. – Jeff Rennicke, River Days: Travels on Western Rivers

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.
– A. A. Milne, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book

Travel

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

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Ever-present

JLD_4304“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.”
Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

“the joy of life comes from our encountrers with new experiences…”

IMG_4805“Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.

The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.”

-Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Why we paddle…

IMG_4085There is something you get out of paddling that you can’t get in any other sport. It’s finding the happy balance with an always changing force of nature, and it makes you feel very small yet powerful at the same time.” Shannon Caroll

No Fun in Life without Adventure

IMG_7445“What constitute the pleasures of the traveler are obstacles, fatigue or even danger. What charm can there be in a journey when one is always sure to arrive and find his horses ready, a downy bed, an excellent supper and all the comfort one enjoys at home? one of the great misfortunes of modern life is the absence of the unexpected, the lack of adventure. Everything is so well regulated, so well fitted into its place and ticketed, that chance is no longer possible; another century of improvements, and everybody will be able to foresee from the very day of his birth all that will happen to him up to the day of his death.”

– Monsieur Theophile Gautier, 1840

Reach for the Stars

I’d rather be a “could-be” if I cannot be and “are”; because a “could be” is a “maybe” who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a “has-been” than a “might-have-been,” by far. For a “might-have-been” has never “been,” but a “has” was once an “are.”
-Milton Berle

Throw off the bowlines…

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-Mark Twain

U.S. Navy Battleship vs. Modesitt Canoe

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As we pass a Navy ship I look up in awe at its size and power. I would hate to come up against this thing in a fight. But then again, i would doubt that they could see Kerala, our canoe, from there anyway. Near the end of the boat I see two sailors waving at us. I wave back. Then they stand at full attention and salut us. Us! Their actions blow me away. We are just out here doing some canoeing and they were out there protecting my freedom and they were saluting us. It brings home to me that although this isn’t a unique trip-it is different. They make me feel special and different and honored. This has been a worthwhile trip. Respect can come in many forms and today it was the simple salute from two sailors. The feeling is wonderful.
As Kent and I near New Orleans the river traffic increases with more barges, more freighters; It is difficult for a little canoe to maneuver around freighters- and scary.

The Happiest of People…

Guests of Mountain Whitewater enjoy a water fight on the Cache la Poudre River

Guests of Mountain Whitewater enjoy a water fight on the Cache la Poudre River

“The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they make the best of everything that comes their way.”